Search

jandreart
  -  Diary of an Adventure   -  Juba Adventures

The roads in Juba Town are a muddy mess after the rain of the past week. Children and dogs thriving in the slush. Malaria now a terror.

Another new deal between the leaders of the warring factions will hopefully bring an end to the fighting. Staff now at heightened risk by unpaid, defecting, soldiers.

At the school, near the office, the soccer field is churned mud through which they have painted white lines in a valiant effort to demarcate areas of play. The ball bounce a lottery as it hits ridges of hardened mud, the acrobatics of the players, with their impossibly long limbs, as they adjust to the movement of the ball impressive.

A cafe style dinner of pate and cheese that Eddie had brought back from his recent trip to Copenhagen. The sunset, red and full of promise. Not quite Turnerish, but still amazing.

Rain thundering on the roof before sunrise. Debated the merits of heading out into the mud for my jog. The rain, gentle and together with a detachment of military out for their formation run, I ended up going a bit further and faster than I intended. Magic blue tape still holding my Achilles together.

Gazillions of butterflies outside the office window. Magical.

Juba Town eerily quiet. Hangover after the opening night of football World Cup? No soldiers on the streets at least. Perhaps there is a ‘Peace Revolution’ in Juba Town, with the sandbags outside the National Intelligence building, replaced by square concrete boxes filled with plants.

The moon, spectacular. Responsible for my nights full of crazy dreams?

From my RAP singing staff member:
The Leadership in my beautiful country South Sudan
Is like a plastic cup of tea.
On the outside it is beautiful and clean.
On the inside its brown and stained.
You can scrub all you like, but the stain will always be there
They are stained forever.

In his time Jan has been an electronics, nuclear and power system engineer, a strategist, a humanitarian and an artist. A career path linked by creativity and innovative thinking. Initially trained at the Johannesburg College of Art, Jan has won numerous international awards and has exhibited nationally and internationally. He can be found in his studio ‘Jandreart’ located at Thesen Harbour Town, Knysna.

Comments

  • Mark Raats

    Another huge challenge for you to try and overcome boet and the song from your staff member is very moving….

    We outsiders should not forget that not every person is out to make war and cause misery. There are millions of regular folk who only what what everyone else on the planet strives for – a peaceful life filled promise and opportunities..

    Thanks you you and your team. You are all inspirational!

    June 13, 2014
    • Thanks Boet. They are an amazing bunch

      June 13, 2014
  • terryellen21

    Amazing words xxx

    June 15, 2014
  • Reblogged this on Sudan Hub Group: Bridging the Gap.

    June 19, 2014

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: